Island II
by TohruROX2221
Summary: “...I've always sorta liked you." "Wha-?" Larla is main pairing. R&R! Teen for language and adult situations. DISCONTINUED!
1. A Broken Memory?

Charla Ann Swann kept having dreams about the island. They made no sense, no matter how she looked at them. And then there was the song that played every time….

She put the headphones in her ears and blasted the sound. Her dad knocked on the door. She heard it – the sounds she heard nowadays – but she wasn't expecting him to actually _enter_ her room….

"Hey, Charla," he said. Suddenly the sounds of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" filled his ears. "Turn down the sound a bit, honey," he remarked. She turned it down to make him happy. "You might want to get ready. We're leaving to pick up Nichole from your uncle's in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, Dad," she said. He left the room. As soon as he did, she cranked up the sound. She liked not being able to hear anything. She looked over to her nightstand. There was a picture of Mom. If there were any way to bring Mom back, she would do it.

"Charla, you and I both know that's not possible," her dad told her every time she brought up the subject of resurrection. "I would love to have her back as well, but that's not happening."

Friggin' cancer screwed up her life. It was worse for Mom, though; she died from it. At least she was with the Lord now….

"CHARLA! LET'S _GO_!!" Dad. It was always Dad now that Mom was out of the picture. "IF YOU WANT TO BE ON TIME FOR _YOUR_ BIRTHDAY PARTY, THEN YOU BETTER _GET A MOVE ON_!!"

Mom would have been gentler. She would have said, "Still aren't ready, are we, Charla? Okay, then, if you want me to go to your party by myself I will…." Then Charla would cave in and get ready.

"CHARLA ANN SWANN, YOU GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE _NOW_!" Dad was in a bad mood. At least he could make ends meat, unlike before. He made more than enough; he could have taken in Nichole's entire family of Nichole, Uncle Earl, and Aunt Pearl. Charla and Nichole felt like twins in every way, it almost felt like they WERE twins. And Nichole's boyfriend was cute. But Charla would have liked to have her own boyfriend: Luke.

Sure, she was nuts about him. But she had to seem like his friend or else he'd probably laugh at her or refuse to talk to her. _That's what you get when your biggest crush is friend with J.J. Lane,_ she thought as she trudged down the stairs.

When she reached Dad, he acted as if she had just walked off the set of the Thriller music video. "Are you _sure_ you want to wear _that_?"

"Grow up," she heard herself mutter. Luckily, Dad didn't hear. He didn't hear anything important these days, anyway.

* * *

"Nichole!"

"Charla!"

The girls embraced. Uncle Earl and Aunt Pearl whisked Nichole off anywhere at a minutes notice. She could tell Nichole had been to Japan this time; the Naruto shirt spoke for itself.

"You look great!" Charla beamed.

"You don't look bad yourself," Nichole said back.

"Oh, come on! You can say it." Charla was still wearing her Christmas gift (after all, Christmas was only 6 days earlier) – an old shirt of her mother. It was her favorite ACDC shirt. Her mother loved ACDC and their memorabilia.

"No, you look great. Love the jeans, by the way."

They waited until everyone arrived – they had school friends Brittany, Bethany, Jane, Mandy, Hannah, Brett, Jerico, Seth, and Candace, Charla's neighbor Molly-Rachel, family, of course, Charla's best friend Carly, Nichole's boyfriend Joe and his brothers, and, of course, Lyssa, Will, J.J., Ian, and Luke.

So far only Joe and his family, Seth, and Jane had showed up. Joe's family ironically had the names of the Jonas Brothers: Kevin, Joe, Nick, and Frankie.

Finally, it seemed like only three people were missing: Molly-Rachel (she was going to be a little late), Jerico, and Luke.

"God, what is taking him so long?" Charla said.

"Charla, watch your tongue," Nichole warned about her saying the Lord's name in vain (Nichole, too, was heavily Christian). "And who are you talking about?"

Luke walked in. He started talking with Will, Ian, and J.J. about something and kept glancing at Charla to see if she was listening.

"This guy I like," Charla said, still gazing at Luke. "His name is Luke, from the island?"

"I KNEW IT!"

Nichole and Charla looked up. Lyssa Greenfield was standing over them. "And by the way, happy birthday!" She added. "How can you stand sharing a birthday party?"

"You get by if your cousin's birthday is December 26 and yours is January 2. I'm lucky I get a party at all. You're lucky your birthday is in summer. No one has too many plans. Mine sucks."

"What sucks?" A familiar voice asked.

The three of them were so busy talking that they hadn't notice Luke walk over.

"Nothing," Charla said quickly. God – excuse me, Nichole, Charla thought, _gosh_ – she hated lying to him. But if he found out…

No. She would make sure that wouldn't happen. Because she would never tell him unless necessary. Hopefully, it would never be necessary.

"Uh huh," he said, only half believing her. "Hey, guys, can Charla and I talk alone?"

Immediately Lyssa walked away, but Nichole still remained. Lyssa practically had to drag her away.

Luke looked very edgy. He kept cracking his knuckles (and when he couldn't crack them anymore, attempting to), his palms were sweating, and he stared at his feet instead of Charla's face. "So…" he said finally.

"So," she said back.

"Happy birthday," he finally said.

"Was that so private you had to tell me alone?" Charla asked, stifling a laugh.

"Um, no, but…"

"That's what I thought."

He laughed. He couldn't help it; it was just his instinct. Charla was so funny, a lot funnier than Reese. That bastard almost got him arrested and killed. But at the same time, it made him meet five of the best friends he could ever have. And that little stunt, the gun in his locker – that was not funny, no matter what Reese thought. And then there was that bastard, Ratface, the jerk tried to kill everyone, even the most innocent of them all, Ian and Charla.

"Are you paying attention at all?" Charla asked, bringing him back to reality. "Look – you've cracked your knuckles so bad that your hands are all red."

OUCH!! He thought when he saw them. "Yeah, I'll get over it," he said.

They stood silent for a few minutes. Unbeknownst to them, the others were talking about the situation.

"What's this all about?" Lyssa asked.

All the boys smiled.

"Will," Lyssa said teasingly, "You know."

"He's asking her out," Will said.

"Ohmygosh!" She said, linking the three words together.

Back to where Luke and Charla were, Luke said, "So, you know we've been friends for a while."

"Yes, I know that," Charla said distastefully. "I'm not stupid."

"And you know that nothing means more to me than our friendship."

"Uh huh," Charla said, wondering what he was getting at.

"So please don't take this the wrong way or anything but…I've always sorta liked you."

"Wha-?"

"Not as a friend either. As a girlfriend…I guess."

"Actually…I did, too, really, I did. I'm not just saying it."

"So you wouldn't mind being my girlfriend, then?"

"Of course not!"

He smiled. She smiled back. They exchanged "digits", as the taken ones call it. They knew long distance relationships were hard, but they worked it out: they came over to each other's houses when it was possible, and they had MySpaces. Suddenly Charla tensed up.

Uh…Luke," she said. "It looks like we have an audience."

He looked up. "It would appear so," he said, referring to the five watching them.

"You think we should tell them?" Charla asked.

"I think they already know," Luke said.

"So they walked over and told 5them, anyway. The boys were still laid back, but the girls pretty much went nuts. Then Lyssa looked upset. "Now you're taken and I'm not," she said.

"We could fix that," J.J. said, trying to sound romantic but ended up sounding like a dork.

"Keep your perverted hands off my sister!" Will warned. The seven of them laughed.

So Luke and Charla were officially a couple, and so were J.J. and Lyssa, but little did any of them know their lives would change completely.

**

* * *

**

**So what did you think? Just to let you know, here are the points I have to prove that it looks like there should have been a Larla:**

**Luke seems gentler to Charla than any other character, and he talks to her most.**

**(This might have nothing to do with it, but) Luke, Charla, and J.J. seemed like the big characters.**

**Luke seemed most worried to find the others (mostly Charla) when he was shipwrecked with Will and Ian.**

**Charla and Luke were chosen to get medicine for Will.**

**Finally, there was that thing with the Quonset hut. Charla held his hand, and he did NOTHING.**

**And for your info, here are things I added/changed (mostly added):**

**Charla and Lyssa's have been switched, however Lyssa still fights with Will and Charla is still athletic. Charla is the blonde and white now, Lyssa is tan and brunette now.**

**Charla has asthma now. She is said to have it since age ten in another chapter I'm adding, but I wanted to let you know now.**

**I gave the adults first names and the children have middle names, such as: Charla Ann Swann, Luke Gregory Haggerty, Lyssa Ariel Greenfield, Will Howard Greenfield, Ian Michael Sikorsky, and, Gordon Korman told me this through a reply to an email I sent him that this was J.J.'s name the entire time, Jonathon Junior Lane. The adults, the only ones mentioned, are Charles Swann (Charla's dad), Danielle Haggerty (Luke's mom), Gregory Haggerty (Luke's dad), Howard Greenfield (Will and Lyssa's dad), and Ann Swann (Charla's mom).**

**I have killed Ann Swann. I have done this because in the book, when it talks about Charla's background, it says "Dad…dad…dad," never "parents…parents…parents" or even "Mom…mom…mom."**

**And I gave Charla a family.**


	2. Our First Date

**I was so busy getting Chapter One uploaded that I didn't proofread it! Hopefully this will be better!!!!!!!!!**

* * *

Charla woke up at exactly eight o'clock on January 2, 2008. She was officially thirteen and it was officially her first date with Luke. Here was the plan:

They'd go to dinner and a movie. Then they'd come home and sit on her lawn for a while. She didn't understand the last part, even when he said, "Come on, it'll be just the two of us, spread out underneath the stars."

So she put on her best shirt, a light winter jacket, and her best pair of jeans. She had to almost force herself out of the ACDC shirt. She set it down on her bed, finally deciding her first date should be romantic, not rock and roll filled. She wasn't even sure if Luke liked ACDC. She'd have to ask.

She put on concealer, eye shadow, blush, eyeliner, and a little lipstick. She wanted to look presentable, after all. She stared out her bedroom window until she saw him. She almost ran downstairs, straightened her skirt at the door, and opened it casually. He was dressed up a little bit, too, but luckily he was wearing jeans like she was. He smiled at her.

"Hey," he said. "You look great."

"You don't look so bad yourself," she said back. "I won't need my wallet, will I?"

"No, I've got more than enough cash on me right now."

"Okay." She turned and called to her dad, "Dad, I'm leaving!"

"WAIT!!" He called back. He waltzed – literally, _waltzed_ – downstairs. "Oh, look at you!" He beamed. "You're all grown up." Luke laughed but Charla groaned and said, "Da-ad!"

"I need a picture!" He said. As he rummaged for a camera, Luke and Charla left. "Ready!" He said. His brow furrowed. "Charla? Char, where are you, sweetie?"

The cab Luke called for went to pick up Joe and Nichole, too – they were double dating to break the tension. As they arrived at the restaurant, they didn't realize who was right behind them.

"J.J., stop hogging the binoculars!" Will cried.

"I'm not hogging them," J.J. defended. "And if you want them so bad, Porky, you should have brought your own pair."

"Okay, who decided _you_ would come up with nicknames?" Ian asked.

"Shut up, Tweaker," J.J. said, referring to Ian as his nickname. "And please, refer to me as Sexy Hunk, okay?"

Even Lyssa, J.J.'s girlfriend, was disgusted. "No matter how much I like you, J.J. Lane, I am _not_ referring to you as Sexy Hunk."

J.J. shrugged. "Works for me," he said, then continued to stare at Luke, Charla, Nichole, and Joe.

Nichole nudged Charla. That was Nichole's sign for asking about ACDC. "So…Luke," Charla started. He looked up.

"What?"

"By any chance, do you listen to ACDC?"

He smiled. "I do, actually. I love their song 'It's A Long Way To the Top.'"

Charla smiled as she saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Most people asked her, "AC who?" She was glad someone finally knew! "Really? That's great!" Nichole winked at her. _So far so good,_ Charla thought.

"Who else do you listen to?" She asked. Luckily, she listened to every band he listed.

"All American Rejects, Plain White T's, Metro Station, and Queen, really. I like rock and techno."

"I like pop, rock, and techno," she said back.

"Have you ever had a boyfriend before?" He asked.

She smiled. "Kinda. Back in kindergarten I got 'married' to this boy I knew named Brett Farblo. We 'lived' in his tree house and had a dog named Pepper. What about you? Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"Once this girl asked me to go out with her but she didn't like me for me. She just liked me because I was hanging out with that basta – sorry, I mean Reese. He was the coolest boy in school. But after that locker inspection, she wouldn't talk to me. Her name was Melissa," he said, smiling. "I still have her number."

"No!" Charla said. "Really?" Joe asked in unison with Charla. "Whoa," Nichole said, in unison with Joe.

"True," he said. He flipped open his phone and passed it to Charla. When she grabbed it, their hands touched. They nervously took them away. She looked at it. 'Melissa,' she said. She read the number out loud. "1-800-WHOCARES." It suddenly clicked. "You jerk!" She said. Luke laughed.

Their audience, however, were bored to sleep. "This is boring," 'Sexy Hunk' said.

"Tell me about it," replied 'Garden Pixie' – Lyssa for those of you who don't know.

"Sssh!" 'Porky' said. "They're talking about the island." Suddenly 'Sexy Hunk', 'Garden Pixie', and 'Tweaker' were all ears.

"I remember the time you almost passed out from fright in the Quonset hut," Luke teased.

"Hey, I was scared!" Charla defended herself. "Besides, you didn't seem so Evel Knievel yourself."

"Oh, yeah? Prove it!"

"'Are you scared? I'm scared. These guys have guns!' And at that point I was like, 'No, they don't Luke, they have balloon animals!' And you were like, 'I think I'm going to pee my pants!'"

"He _did_?" Joe asked, raising an eyebrow.

"NO!" Nichole said in disbelief.

"Yes," Charla said with a smile."

"I was not!" Luke defended, flushing red.

"Did so," Charla said. "And you didn't seem to mind me holding your hand."

"Cause guys are supposed to brave to the ladies," he said.

"Yeah, you proved that to me with the 'I'm gonna pee myself' part!"

Their audience was dying to laugh, but they couldn't give themselves away. "Look's like Haggerty's not so tough after all," J.J. said with a snicker.

"That was classic!" Will said. "I think I'm going to pee my pants! Who would have thought…?"

"These guys have guns!" Lyssa sniggered. "Way to point out the obvious for us, Luke!"

"Wait," Ian said, and everyone realized he was the only one who didn't care about Luke's "bravery". "Hey, Tweaker –" Ian cringed "– what's up?"

"She said she held his hand. Doesn't that mean anything to you guys?"

"It means Charla's a bigger coward than we think," J.J. said. "Now get over it."

"Not that!" Ian said. "It means that Charla like Luke this entire time, too." Everyone let this sink in.

"Yes, yes, we know that these two are like the sap-masters," J.J. said, impatient. "So what? Look – they're leaving!"

It was true. They had paid the check and were going to go see User Friendly: The Movie.

**(A/N: I made this movie up, but not the concept. This story's in my seventh grade language arts book.)**

They couldn't help but laugh when the song Our Time Now (by the Plain White T's) came up in the movie. The audience kept throwing popcorn at them to shut up, but they wouldn't silence. The boys, finally, walked the girls home.

"That was a surprise ending," Joe said. "Who knew the computer was a girl?"

"That _was_ a shock," Nichole said.

"I didn't get it," Luke said.

"Of course you don't," Charla said. Joe and Nichole laughed as Charla filled into Luke that Louis (the computer) had been a girl all along, and the only reason "he" was treating Ginny Linke so badly is because Louis was actually a girl name Louise and she was in love with Kevin. She wanted Ginny to back off. And Louise wanted the voice module so she could talk to Kevin instead of having to flash messages to him.

"I think I get it now," he said.

"You better," Charla said.

When they reached her house, they sat on the lawn as Luke and Joe pointed out constellations. Luke looked to Joe, and Joe nodded.

"And that star, right there," Luke said, "is named _Charla_."

"And that one next to it is _Nichole_," Joe said.

"No, it isn't!" Charla said to Luke.

"Wanna bet?" Luke asked. He pulled a paper out of his pocket and handed it to Charla. She read it. She closed her eyes. She gave Luke a hug. "You're spoiling me," she said.

"And?" He asked.

The audience was still watching. "I think they really like each other," Will said. Will, at fourteen, was still clueless.

"No, Will," Lyssa said. "They really like the taco!" She said it sarcastically, but she knew Will took it too seriously.

Suddenly Ian tripped and snapped a twig. The four now knew of their presence. Charla felt betrayed, Nichole speechless, and the boys couldn't believe what they were seeing. Charla got up and stormed in her house, Nichole following close behind. "Charla – wait…"

Charla didn't wait. As soon as she was in the house, she ran up the stairs to her room, crying all the way. Her first date…ruined. She practically fell on her bed. Nichole sat next to her. "Don't mind them…they're stupid…J.J. sucks…"

But she wouldn't hear it. They were her friends, and they betrayed her! She was burning with rage and embarrassment. There was a knock at her door.

"Go away," she called. But the person didn't listen. Luke opened the door. He walked over and he hugged her. "I took care of them," was all he said before his final words: "I love you."

* * *

**So what do you think? Was it a little much for their first date or did you like it? I worked hard on this chapter, too, so please no flames. I don't like them. =[** **I also might want to add that in this story Charla wears contacts and needs braces. And I loosely based the characters of Charla, Nichole, and Lyssa off my and my friends, Abby and Chelsea, respectively. Also Charla's best friend Carly (who hasn't came in yet) was based off my friend Yvonne. See yas!**


	3. Author's Note

Okay, I haven't done **too** many author's note chapter things, except in my Suite Life story "_Victoria's Dirty Little Secret_", but I had to explain why I didn't finish a chapter the way my readers expecting. The same thing here – I have to explain a few things that makes my story fit me. I was reading the reviews I **FINALLY** (_hint, hint_) got for this story, and a few things were drawn to my attention:

**One:** Yes, I changed Charla's skin color – and I'm _not_ trying to be racist in doing that. I never saw her as black until I saw that picture on the back of the book. I didn't quite see her _blonde_, either, but that idea came to me sometime last year. I kind of swapped the way Lyssa and Charla look, but Lyssa isn't black, just tan. Therefore, Charla is white and blonde; Lyssa is tan with deep brown hair. This is simply because me and my friends get bored way too easy and this is what we do: act out Island (I know, we're nerds). I'm Charla, and I am athletic, white, and blonde. My friend Chelsea is Lyssa, and she's tall, athletic, brunette, and tan. (By the way, unlike most Chelsea's I've met, Chelsea is not stuck up or prep or anything. She **_hates_** preps.)

**Two:** Money issues – gone. I haven't put it in the story yet, but they are gone. Yes, I realize stars are expensive, but another thing I haven't put in yet is that J.J. finally feels generous to the other people and gave Luke a loan ("You owe me, Haggerty. _Big_ _time_.") It's not much of the money, only like $100, but he was short (and **_not_** height wise!).

**Three:** I made Charla popular because I said that she was home schooled (again not here yet) before the school year after CNC. So, that means she has friends from her neighborhood, and her neighborhood friends would introduce her to their friends. And most people at my school and my sister's school are insta-popular when they do sports. Don't know how that works out for those of us who don't like sports much…. (I am only athletic because of P.E. and I'm on my city swim team, and that keeps me pretty fit for the rest of year.)

**Four:** The reason they came from all over the country is that they were in town for Charla's party two days prior, and they didn't leave. (That's something else me and my friends do – not throwing in the spying thing, the fact that they never left.)

**Five:** This isn't my problem, but please review I didn't update because I had no reviews and didn't get any for almost two weeks – and also I had no Internet for those "two" weeks. These restricted me from updating any story. So when I logged on today, I was shocked to see I had four reviews, as when I left I had none.

**Explain things for you? Just one last thing, again I'm not trying to be racist in the whole skin controversy!!!!**

**Sorry, I had to write this. The real chapter should be up pretty quick.**


	4. Our First Kiss and A Surprise Visit

Charla went to the park with Lyssa, Brittany, and Bethany. They wouldn't leave her alone about Luke. "Has he kissed you?" was all Brittany asked, and "Have you kissed him?" was all Bethany asked. Sure, they had an occasional innocent kiss on the cheek. But the lips? Never.

"You better kiss him soon or he'll think you're not interested," Brittany said. Charla laughed.

"Brittany, we started dating on the 31st and it's the 5th today," Charla said, smiling.

"So?" Brittany asked.

"I have to agree," Lyssa said, although she never mentioned kissing until that point. "He's totally cute and so into you. I say go!" Of course, Lyssa said 'go' to almost everything.

"Sure," Charla said, "When you guys AREN'T around."

Bethany rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she mumbled.

Lyssa got herself into the baby swing – and couldn't get herself back out. When they finally pried her loose, she fell on the ground, cursing after she landed. Bethany got to the top of the slide – and fell down, rolling down the slide as she fell. She was yelling like bloody murder.

Charla and Brittany watched the whole things from the swings, laughing like lunatics. Suddenly Charla felt arms around her waist and she screamed. Bethany, who was at the top of the slide again, fell down at Charla's cries.

"Chill out, you look like you've seen a ghost!"

Charla knew that voice too well. She turned around. Luke was grabbing her waist, and he was the one laughing that time. She shoved him off her waist and yelled, "Luke Haggerty, that it is so not funny!"

"Did you see your face?" He said, laughing. "Cause it was pretty funny!"

"You jerk!" She yelled, but seconds later, she laughed at his stupidity. The rest of Charla's friends laughed as well, but a person watching them in the bushes wasn't laughing at all.

"Enjoy your girlfriend while you can, Haggerty," the figure hissed. "I swear I'll get the both of you tonight, and then you'll pay!" He laughed manically, rubbing his hands in an evil way.

The four decided they'd play volleyball, two on two. Luke decided he'd keep score. Once Lyssa hit the ball too hard on purpose. "I'll get it!" she yelled. She ran to get the ball and walked by Luke coming back. "Sssh…they're looking. Pretend to be telling me the score," she hissed.

So Luke picked up his paper with the score on it so it would look like she wanted to see the score. "Have you kissed Charla?" she said suddenly.

Shocked, he replied, "Um…I've kissed her on the cheek and stuff."

"When will you kiss her…you know…on the lips?" she said 'on the lips' very quietly, as if she didn't even want the air to hear what they talked about.

"I don't know, why do you ask?"

"Well…I just think if you don't do it soon she'll be turned off."

He was shocked. "You…you do?"

"Well, let me see the way you kiss her now and I'll watch her."

"This is nuts," he whispered after Lyssa walked off. They had only been dating since the 31st, and that day was the 5th._ No big deal._ It's not like he had to kiss her _then!_ But, whatever, Lyssa wanted to see them kiss.

So when Charla had the ball he suddenly ran out to the court. Lyssa watched intently, but Brittany and Bethany didn't notice a thing. He grabbed her waist while she held the volleyball and kissed her cheek. She smiled with her teeth showing, and he smiled with his mouth closed up to the point where he kissed her. Then he walked off.

"_TIME!!_" Lyssa called. She walked off the court. "_WHAT_ kind of kiss was _THAT?_"

"I _told_ you, I haven't kissed her for real!"

"Oh, like _that's_ an excuse!"

Luke grew angry. "If you're so mad," he said, "I'll kiss her tonight for real!"

"That's all I ask," Lyssa said.

* * *

That night Luke walked home with Charla…and so did the figure in the bushes. He kept his distance so the two wouldn't notice he was going in the same direction. Luke was uncomfortable for two reasons: one, Lyssa wanted him to kiss Charla, and two, he had the feeling of being watched.

He yelled out in the middle of her talking, "AGH!"

"What? _What?_" she asked.

"I – I don't know. I just have this feeling that someone's following us."

He turned around and the person wasn't prepared. He was less than a few feet behind them.

"Hey, buddy," Luke said. "Could you maybe back off?"

The person said nothing and Luke rolled his eyes. He whispered to Charla, "That guy better leave in like ten seconds or I'm going to punch him in the face."

"Violent much, Luke?" Charla said, stifling a laugh.

* * *

When they got home, Luke and Charla talked for a long time after her dad went to bed. He kept glancing at the clock. Thirty minutes till midnight. They were watching _Mindfreak_, that show that Criss Angel's on. Criss just walked through glass. Charla's eyes went wide.

"_HOLY SHIT!!_" she yelled. "_HOW THE HELL DOES HE DO THAT?!_"

Luke laughed. "Watch your language, Charla!"

"It's _weird!_ No human can do _that!_"

"Well, _he_ can."

The tape was just amazing things that happened on _Mindfreak_. The next one was Criss Angel levitating.

"_HOLY FUCKING SHIT!! WHAT THE CRAP IS THAT?! HELL, HOW DOES HE DO THAT SHIT?!_"

Luke laughed. "I ought to duct tape your mouth shut!"

They were now watching when Criss Angel was walking on knives when Luke looked to see what time it was. Nine minutes to midnight. He asked, "Wanna listen to some music?" Charla nodded. he pulled out a CD of the Plain White T's and put it on Our Time Now. Charla listened intently. Suddenly Luke leaned over and kissed her cheek. Shocked, she looked over at him. Then they leaned in close to each other and –

They kissed each other for ten seconds.

_RING!!_ Charla's cell phone rang. She looked embarrassed, but she picked up her phone. "Hello" was on the caller ID. She didn't know anyone named Hello.

"H – Hello?" she said into the phone.

"GET OUT!!" a voice yelled at her.

"I think you have the wrong number," she said.

Her reply was scary breathing.

"Who the hell _are_ you?!"

All she heard was a banshee scream. She threw her phone clear across the room.

"What the hell was that?" Luke asked.

The television turned itself off. "What's going on?" Charla asked, scared out of her right mind. The music stopped playing.

"Don't look at me," Luke said. He was trying to pretend he didn't feel scared, but this scared the living daylights out of him.

The lights flickered on and off several times. Luke suddenly grabbed Charla protectively. There was a knock at the door. They stared at the door. There was a shadow in the window of a hand holding a knife. Lightening boomed outside. The door flew open. _And someone was standing outside._

Charla screamed, but Luke put his hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds. It was so dark she didn't realize it was him, so she screamed louder. "Hello, Haggerty," a voice called. Luke swallowed hard.

"Go. AWAY," he called.

"We have some unfinished business to take care of, Haggerty."

"If you take a single step forward, I will _kill_ _you!_"

The person put his hand up. Charla's eyes grew wide. She tried to scream, but Luke's hand was too tight over her mouth. She shut her eyes. _If they're going to kill us,_ she thought, _I don't want to see!_

The person pulled their hood off. Whatever they were holding became very clear – a flashlight. It illuminated his face. Luke knew the face all too well.

_It was Reese._

"How the hell did you find me here?!" he called out.

"I have my ways," Reese said.

"Go away, Reese, I don't have time for this!"

"We have a few things we need to work out."

"NEVER!!" He picked up a pillow and tossed it at Reese. It hit him in the arm and something fell out of his sleeve: a gun.

"Remember this, Luke?" Reese asked. "Does this look familiar?" Luke's eyes went wide. That was the gun in his locker. He kept having the memory of the assistant principal pulling it out of his locker and Luke yelling, "It's not mine, Mr. Sazio!"

_Somebody framed me_ also ran through his mind. _And now he had proof._ He stood up, his hands at his sides in fists. He walked over to Reese and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "You listen here, you little jackass," he said. "First things first, I hate you. Second, I hate you. Third, I. HATE. YOU. And fourth, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!"

"Make me," Reese said.

Luke lost his self-control. He tackled Reese. Charla was in awe. A part of her wanted to tell him to stop, another wanted to watch this.

Luke punched him in the face. "You almost murdered me…you almost sent me to prison…you gave me the worst time of my life…you made my own bloody parents stop believing me when I told the truth…" Suddenly he looked back at Charla and smiled. "But you did do some good."

"What?" Reese said.

"What?" Charla said.

Luke smiled again. "Yes, you did. You made me meet five of the best people I ever met. _Especially you_," he said to Charla.

"How the hell did I do that?" Reese asked.

"If you never stashed that gun in my locker, I would have never been sent to CNC. And if I never went to CNC, I would have never met them. So, in a way, you were a shithead, but in another, you may have been a good thing." He smiled wider. "_But_ I still hate you."

"Um…okay then, I hate you too. Oh, can you do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

"GET OFF OF ME!!" Luke stood up and Reese got up as well. Suddenly there was another knock at the door. Luke rolled his eyes. "Okay, Reese, knock it off."

"Knock _what_ off?"

"You know damn well. That stupid knocking." Suddenly there was the sound of glass breaking. Then a few seconds later, there was a gunshot and someone screaming. And it wasn't Charla, either.

Charla got really scared. "What the hell is going on?" she asked.

"You better stop this right now, Reese, cause it isn't funny!" Luke said.

"I'm telling you, it's not me!" Reese snapped. The knocking got louder. Suddenly Charla was shoved off the couch – and no one was beside her. She screamed and Reese got nervous. "Fr – fr – fr – FREAKY HOUSE!!" He ran out the door and didn't turn back.

When he was gone, Charla asked, "Think we scared him?"

"Oh, yeah," Luke said. "I don't think _he's_ coming back."

There were footsteps on the stairs. Charla's dad was on the staircase. "What the hell is going on down here?! Are you _murdering_ someone?" He looked at his feet. A pistol was beside him. "What is this?"

_Reese forgot that stupid gun!_ Luke thought. Quickly he lied and said, "I don't know. I don't see anything. Do you, Charla?"

"No," Charla said, catching on to what was happening. "Um, Dad, I think you're just imagining things. Maybe you should go to sleep."

Her dad shook his head and went upstairs. "Thanks," Luke said. "You saved my butt."

"Never use the words 'saved' and 'butt' in the same sentence," she said. "But you're welcome."


	5. Valentine's Day

**Sorry, guys, if it seems like I'm rushing the story. But there's a whole new freakin' plotline that I have to throw in, and that doesn't happen until April. So I have to kind of speed things up. I'm trying not to make it go too fast, but it has to go fast enough so that I get to April fast enough. PLEASE REVIEW THIS STORY!! That's how I know that the story is good. And I have to tell you guys, my friend Abby is helping me write the story from now on. So I had to tell you that too. Okay, here we go!**

* * *

It was fifteen days until Valentine's Day, and Luke had no clue what to do for Valentine's Day. Charla said nothing, but J.J. said when girls say nothing, they're just too ashamed to say what they really wanted.

Oh, great.

He was listening to _J.J._

He texted her, saying, "How's it going?"

Instantly he got a reply: "Is this about V Day?"

"Um…yeah."

"Luke, I've told you a million times: I don't need anything."

Suddenly it hit him. He smiled. "Okay…I won't do anything…"

"Luke? I KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING!"

"I'm dead."

* * *

Two weeks later it was February 13th. Charla got a card in the mail. She opened it. The card read: 'I know you don't want anything, so I won't do anything…until February 14th. I know, I know, you don't want anything, but you're making this difficult.'

She sighed. He was making things difficult. She emailed him, saying, '_You're _the one that's being difficult.' He read the message and smiled. It was working.

* * *

The next day he came out to visit her for Valentine's Day. That night was a barbeque that her neighborhood always had on holidays. He was acting very suspicious, so Charla came up and asked, "Luke, you're acting really weird. Why?"

"No reason," he said.

She walked back. She was sitting next to Nichole. Nichole was blabbing on and on about Reese. "Do you happen to have his number?" she asked her cousin.

Charla looked disgusted. "NEVER going to happen my friend," she said.

Nichole looked upset, but Charla said, "Nichole, focus!" Nichole became interested. "Nichole…I have to talk to…"

She trailed off because Nichole was balancing a spoon on her nose. Charla flicked it off. Nichole got up and ran after the spoon. She cleaned it off when she sat down.

"Nichole…I have to talk to you. We really need to talk."

"What is it?"

"I…I think Luke's going to break up with me."

Nichole was taking a drink and it sprayed it out of her mouth. Charla looked disgusted. "Great, now your slobbery soda is all over my notebook!"

"Sor-_ry_! But that retard Luke would _never_ break up with you!"

"I know. But he's acting all suspicious…and I don't know."

"Wanna put words in his mouth?" Nichole asked very randomly.

"You better believe it!"

"I don't twirl – I pirouette!" 'Luke' said. Charla dyed from laughing. Luke walked over. "Hey," he said.

"Pirouette," Nichole whispered, and Charla laughed. Luke cocked an eyebrow. He sat down and said to Charla, "Hey, Charla…can we talk?"

"I know already," Charla said, sighing, "You're breaking up with me."

"When did I say that?" Luke asked, shocked.

"Aren't you?" Charla asked.

"What made you think that?"

"Well, you've been acting really weird, and…"

"I've been acting weird because I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?"

"Yeah. But now you know about it, and all."

"I can pretend to be surprised."

He smiled. "I'd appreciate it."

Charla saw her dad talking to a young woman. "Who's that?" she asked Nichole and Luke.

"I don't know," Luke said.

"I've never seen her before," Nichole said.

Suddenly Charla's dad kissed the woman. _On the lips._ Charla stood up. She walked over to her dad. "Dad."

He looked over. "Oh, hi, Charla. How are you doing?"

_Oh, hi, Charla. How are you doing????_ Charla thought. _I ought to ask _you _the same thing!_ Instead of telling her dad off by saying that, she said, "So, Dad, I noticed you were with a woman that I don't know, and, well…"

He sighed. "I should have told you sooner." He looked at the woman next to him. _She is really pretty,_ Charla thought. The woman was about 5'6", blonde, and had green eyes. She smiled kindly at Charla when she noticed her staring. "Charla," her dad said and she returned her focus to her father. "This is Brooke Ray Cyrus. We've been dating for a while."

Charla felt like crying. How _dare_ he replace Mom? "Dad, she's young enough to be my big sister!" she yelled.

"Actually I'm 29," Brooke Ray said.

"Dad!" Charla cried. "She's 6 years younger than you!"

"I'm sorry, bud," he said. "I knew you'd be mad, but I had to tell you. And what a better day than Valentine's Day?"

"Right," she said, feeling queasy. She ran back to where Luke and Nichole sat. "He's trying to replace my mom with someone who could be my big sister!"

"What?" Nichole asked.

"I doubt he's trying to replace her and – did you say she could be your big sister?"

"Yeah, she's only 29! That's a 16-year difference between the two of us! And he's six years older than her!" She slumped back in her chair.

"Do you think I should…?" Luke asked Nichole.

Nichole nodded. Luke went over to her dad and came back with a box. He smiled. "Well…I know you said you didn't want anything for Valentine's Day, but…happy Valentine's Day!"

He put the box in front of her. She looked up at him. "Your dad paid for it, but it's from me." He smiled.

Charla opened the box and looked in. Inside the cutest face stared back at her. It was a dog. A cocker spaniel. Charla's mouth fell open. "Ohmygosh," she said, linking the three words together.

"Well, your dad told me you wanted a dog for your birthday and all," Luke explained. "But he didn't have the time to get it. So a few days ago I called him and asked about this and he said okay."

"How did he hide a _dog_ from me?" Charla asked.

"Your neighbor, Molly-Rachel, is it? She hid her at her house. And she has all her shots already, so don't worry."

Immediately the puppy jumped out of the box and into Charla's lap. The dog started licking her face. Charla laughed. "Oh my, God," Charla said. "It looks like she's smiling." In fact, it _did_ look like the little dog was smiling.

"The pet store told your dad that she could do that," Luke said. "Oh, and she doesn't have a name yet, so you can name her."

The name Roxy came to mind, and she wasn't quite sure why, but she liked it. Ironically, Charla's shoes where Roxy brand, and the dog jumped down and started to nibble on the heel of the shoe. Charla laughed.

"Thank you," Charla said.

"Don't thank me, thank your dad," Luke said back.

"How come all Joe got me for Valentine's Day is a carrot?" Nichole asked, referencing _her_ boyfriend.

"Cause you're _you,_" Charla said. "Hey, speaking of which, what did Uncle Earl and Aunt Pearl get each other for Valentine's Day?" Uncle Earl and Aunt Pearl were Charla's aunt and uncle and Nichole's parents.

"My mom got Dad a bra," Nichole said. Charla and Luke stared. "My dad needs one, okay?" Nichole asked. Luke sighed and Charla rolled her eyes. "And Dad got Mom a pair of…" she shuddered. "Granny panties."

"Eeeew," Charla said.

"That's gross," Luke agreed.

Roxy fell asleep at Charla's feet. The rest of the night dragged on, and Luke went home. Charla brought her dog inside and Nichole asked, "Can I spend the night here?"

"What's wrong with your house?" Charla asked.

"My mom get herself a Valentine's Day gift and it's this French perfume that smells like dog urine. And she's yelling at the cat to get a job."

Charla stared.

"Yeah, I don't know," Nichole said. "Did you know that once my mom get hit by a bus?"

"Oh my, God!" Charla cried. "What happened?"

"She was fine, cause then she yelled out, _'WHO THREW THAT TWINKIE?!_'"

Charla laughed. "You know that didn't happen," she said.

"I know," Nichole said. "I just don't like my mom. But I was born on a bus." Charla looked blank so Nichole explained, "My mom's not good at planning! I told you I'm like Sam from iCarly!"

"Yes, it's fun to be like a stupid blonde, isn't it?"

"Cha yeah!" Nichole said.

That night they stayed up for a long time. At 2:14, Charla said, "Hey, make a wish."

"Why?"

"Cause it's 2:14 the day after Valentine's Day, and it's in February, which is 2, and it's on the 14th. 2:14."

Charla wished that somehow she would grow to like Brooke Ray and Nichole wished for some ranch for her carrot. Then the subject turned too boys, because it was Valentine's Day.

"Why do you like Luke?" Nichole asked.

"Cause he's nice, and smart, and funny, and cute, charming, caring, and…well…"

"Well what?" Nichole said, smiling.

"Well, you know how I like singing and writing songs?"

"Yeah?'

"Well, I wrote a song about him, called _Simple Things_. It's the simple things I hate about him and the simple things I like about him."

"Sing the part about what you like about him."

So Charla sang:

_The simple things I like about you_  
_You're fair, you're mine, brand new Levi's  
__I wanna look into your eyes  
__Make me laugh and you're mine  
__I thought I'd be hard to find  
__I know you're right when we're intertwined  
__Make everything all right  
__I wanna see another guy I know  
__And the simplest thing I like the most about you  
__Oh  
__You make me love you_

"That's great!" Nichole said. "So…"

"So…what?"

"What do you hate about him?"

"Nichole…"

"I _want_ to know!"

"Maybe later?" Charla laughed.

And then they both fell asleep.

* * *

**Okay, sorry if that seemed rushed…my bad if it is! In case you haven't noticed, **_**Simple Things **_**is a spoof of **_**Seven Things**_** by Miley Cyrus. And in a few more chapters, **_**SOMEONE**_** is going to become the bad guy. Dan dan _daaaaaaaaan_! Lol. Is it Charla? Is it Luke? Is it…Banana Man? Yeah, long story. See, I was at a swim meet with my two friends Chelsea and Yvonne, and we were hanging out at my camp. Then a guy walked by advertising Jamba Juice, and he was in a banana suit. So Chelsea yelled out, "BANANA MAN!!" And we all ran up and hugged him even though he never said we could, but he was okay with it. It was fun. Anyway, vote for who you think that bad guy is if you want:**

* * *

**Poll – Who do YOU think the bad guy will be?**

**Charla  
****Luke  
****Lyssa  
****Will  
****Ian  
****J.J.  
****Nichole  
****Brittany**

**When I upload that chapter, I'll announce the winners and everyone will have to read to find out who the bad guy is! Hee hee…so read and review please, and if you review (or even if you don't have a review), please tell me who the bad guy probably is. I know who it is already, but you guys don't. So R&R&V (read and review and vote)!**


End file.
